Virginia high schools defy U.S.A ban on trans athletes

On Thursday, shortly after President Donald Trump signed an executive order prohibiting trans student-athletes from participating in school sports nationwide, a high school league in Virginia announced it would continue allowing transgender girls to compete, ‘LGBTQ Nation’ reports.

Trump’s executive order, one of over 50 enacted since his return to office on January 20, threatens to withhold federal funding from schools that do not comply with the ban. Mike McCall, director of communications for the Virginia High School League (VHSL), stated, “We have not seen or received anything regarding the Executive Order. We will continue following the current policy and the current law in Virginia.”

The executive order describes the participation of trans athletes in school sports as “demeaning, unfair and dangerous to women and girls” and claims it denies them an equal opportunity in competitive sports.

In contrast to the Virginia league’s stance, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) announced on Thursday that it had revised its policies to exclude trans women from women’s college sports in accordance with Trump’s directive.

Unlike the NCAA, the Virginia league chose to uphold its policies while the ramifications of Trump’s order unfold, benefiting from the time and procedural delays that accompany executive orders.

Trump’s “Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports” order targets trans women and girls in three key ways, highlighting the constraints of executive orders compared to passing legislation through Congress.

Firstly, the order withdraws federal funding from educational programs that deny women and girls equitable athletic opportunities, threatening about eleven percent of the average funding for U.S.A. schools.

These federal funds are distributed in various ways at state and local levels, making it complex to target a specific school district or association such as the VHSL.

Secondly, the order directs the Secretary of Education, alongside the U.S.A. Attorney General, to enforce the administration’s interpretation of Title IX, claiming it does not protect trans athletes from discrimination. However, the Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Bostock v. Clayton recognised that discrimination against individuals for being gay or trans is sex discrimination under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Trump’s prohibition on trans women in sports is expected to face legal challenges based on this and other grounds.

Lastly, the order plans various meetings on the issue: major athletic organisations and governing bodies are to be “convened” to promote “fair and safe” policies, state attorneys general are to “identify best practices,” and international sports organisations are to hear from “female athletes harmed by policies that allow male participation in women’s sports.”

These meetings are more focused on promoting Trump’s anti-trans policies than on enforcing them and are mainly performative.

Though Trump aims to give the impression of reshaping the country through executive orders, these orders do not equate to ruling by decree.

Trump has previously had to retract orders that overstepped his presidential authority, such as freezing federal assistance programs mandated by Congress.

Some executive orders are actionable immediately upon signing, but others are delayed pending agency review and the development of new regulations, which can take months, providing time to contest unlawful orders in courts.